About us
EST. 2022
How It All Began
The idea for RoboFetz was born in 2021 during a semester abroad at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After competing in a local combat robotics tournament and experiencing the incredible energy of the US scene firsthand, the mission was clear: hosting a similar tournament at TU Wien. With TV shows like BattleBots gaining ever-growing popularity in Austria, finding passionate teammates took no time at all. With crucial early support from the Mechanical Engineering student council and the HTU, the dream of establishing a recurring combat robotics league in Austria quickly turned into reality.
The Road to the Arena
To lower the barrier to entry and get straight to the excitement of building, we developed our own custom electronics kit. Using reliable RC components as a foundation, teams had the creative freedom to engineer unique designs from scratch and turning their innovative ideas into real, functional robots. At the start of the summer semester 2022, the arena doors opened for the very first RoboFetz. The name itself was born during a late night out – a fusion of the word “Robot” and “Fetzerei”, a local austrian term for an energetic scuffle.
The Start of a new Tradition
That first tournament was an instant hit, leaving everyone involved demanding more. We are proud that this evolved into the first recurring robot combat tournament of its kind at a German-speaking university, and has even earned its place as an official, accredited course at TU Wien. We gladly share our experiences and lessons learned with others, and we are especially thrilled to see similar university tournaments popping up across Germany inspired by what started right here.
Our Mission
We set out to create an open platform where people can truly unleash their passion for engineering through hands-on, friendly competition. RoboFetz brings key disciplines of a technical degree to life by turning theory into an exciting challenge. From the initial design sketch and collaborative craft nights all the way to the final showdown in the arena, creativity and teamwork remain at the very heart of everything we do. We love sharing this enthusiasm, which is why anyone curious is welcome to join our community and build with us!
Meet the Team
Driven by our shared enthusiasm for small combat robots, we work hard every year to make RoboFetz an unforgettable highlight for the entire community. As the organizing team, we bring together a wide range of expertise, spanning logistics, hands-on technical mentoring, and event coordinatio, to bring our mission to life:
Having fun, passing on practical knowledge, and providing a launchpad for innovative ideas.
The association’s board currently consists of Matthias Leonhartsberger, Florian Schatteiner, Lukas Rinnofner, Florian Schlägl, Florian Winkler and Florian von Gäßler.
